Call for Art

Call for Art: Othering & Belonging Art Contest

Submission Deadline: September 17, 2021

The Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley brings together researchers, organizers, stakeholders, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society in order to create transformative change. 

Bi-anually, we hold the Othering & Belonging Conferences, which are dynamic and uniquely-curated gatherings that advance scholarship, narratives, movements, systems, and policies that support a more fully inclusive “we.”  At our conferences we launch new and custom merchandise and materials that we give away or sell at our merchandise store. For the 2021 Conference on October 18-19, 2021, OBI is holding an art contest to source artwork that will go onto t-shirts, bags, and other O&B merchandise. We’re looking for artwork that illustrates the concept of belonging, drawing that boundary as wide and expansively as the imagination. At O&B 2021, we will be centering the notion of risk. Can those of us working towards justice take real risks to expand who belongs in our work—and in our circle of human concern more widely? Though not necessary, we welcome creatives to consider illustrating the concept of risk taking to expand belonging within their submissions as well.

OBI will select 2 winners, who will receive a $500 USD award and have their work amplified on social media. The winners will be decided by an OBI staff vote. With your permission we'll put all designs submitted on the Othering & Belonging Conference website with artists’ contact information and in an Expo Booth for display during the conference. 

The winners will be selected for two categories:

  • Designs that are primarily text-based 
  • Designs that are primarily image-based


Participating creatives can enter to create original artwork or adapt existing OBI art. In order for artists to enter they will apply and upload artwork (name, bio, website, etc.) via Google Forms, and past designs can be accessed via this Dropbox folder.


Eligibility:

  • Artwork must be original to the artist or an adaptation of existing OBI art.
  • Submitted designs must be in Jpeg or PNG format - for entry the artwork must be no larger than 10MB in size. If your design is selected, we will request higher-res artwork.
  • International submissions from artists living outside of the United States are welcome and encouraged. Prize money will be sent via wire transfer, so submitting artists must have a bank account in their name that can receive wire transfers from the United States.   

 

Timeline:

  1. Submit your art using this Google Form here by September 17, 2021 (Note: one submission allowed for each category)
  2. Winner(s) will be announced and notified by October 1, 2021
  3. Merchandise and online gallery online by October 11, 2021
  4. Expo booth with all submitted artwork online during the 2021 Conference on October 18-19, 2021.


Important links:


Questions? Please contact Evan Yoshimoto